Tools such as logging tools and other tools that are suitable for downhole use are deployed in long subterranean holes, such as open holes and cased holes of wells, by introducing the tool into the hole from an opening and then extending the tool into the hole by various known techniques. In a hole that is substantially vertical and free of major obstructions, tool navigation in the hole is possible without the tool getting jammed in the hole such that tool deployment and use is prevented. However, it is common to encounter irregularities, obstructions, and such like in oil wells and often subsurface holes are not vertical due to curvature in the orientation of the holes, such as typically found in deep oil wells. In consequence, tool jamming is a serious problem encountered in poor hole conditions, such as obstructions by the hole perimeter surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,257 discloses one example of tool navigation downhole. However, conventional methods and systems for tool navigation are not always suitable in highly-deviated and horizontal open holes or cased holes, and in holes that are not uniform in the hole diameter and have non-uniform and irregular profiles of the hole perimeter surfaces.